The entrance to the castle grounds, in the center of the maze, didn’t have a moat but did have two very welcoming pools, one hot and one cold, just past the wall that separated the property from the nasty maze. Harmony pulled three of the needle-thin thorns out of her arm that couldn’t even justify using [Mend] on. and lingered on that sight. Everyone in their little party had similar injuries, cuts, and scrapes on their body in places that they couldn’t reach themselves. After the master mimic departed, the maze exploded with traps and tricks where plants attacked, monsters appeared, and blood was shed. But there had been a notification after passing onto the castle grounds. Even Muthu's leaving had come with an alert that the imposter menace had been cleared. Harmony wanted nothing more than to slip into the steaming water and relax, as there hadn’t been a bloody proper bath since she’d entered these games. Sadly, they were out of leisure time.
Past the alluring pools, a door without a lock waited. It had a whole bunch of intricate gears, buttons, switches, levers, springs, and other moving parts, but no obvious handle or lock. Neither Hyacinth nor Adric had a head for solving puzzles. Holding all the rotting details of what Muthu had whispered in her ear, even with [Recall], was draining because she had to ‘do’ something with what she learned. Instead of going with the initial plan, or even the backup ones, a whole new scenario needed to be crafted.
“Knock,” Harmony ordered.
Hyacinth hopped out of his nestled spot. [Familiar Bond] warned Harmony to take a few more steps back. With one hand, she pulled Prince Adric away with her.
He grew. Now more than twice Adric’s height at full size, from the steady diet of waves of arachnids. The largest he’d managed yet. Would he ever stop growing, or would she eventually have a mountain on her hands? From the wall to the door, he could barely be contained. For this task, it was what they needed.
The first knock popped springs and gears off the wall as it caved in slightly. The second knock had it bent at a ninety-degree angle, but still obstructing the way. The third knock sent the large metal doors tumbling inside the castle.
“Good toad.” Harmony praised him as he shrank back down and resumed his position as a tiny toad perched on her body.
“Greep.” He responded proudly
The group stepped into the castle. It was as well-lit as the outside of the structure, with glow stones banishing every shadow in a spotless, opulent residence. Portraits hung from the entryway, full of contestants, except for a pair that were blank.
Welcome, you are the ninth contestant to enter the home of the Ascendant.
Harmony’s portrait drew itself, brush strokes and all. She touched her nose while studying the artwork. Hers wasn’t so pointed, so maybe it wasn’t 100% accurate. She’d also never be caught in the grass-green dress it had her in.
The other portraits had contestants in similarly off aspects. Felix Campbell’s painting didn't have a single one of his blades in it. That probably drove that man crazy. Princess Rosaline was there without her new chain circlet. Lord Tyler had both his eyes closed. Max’s beard displayed its full pink glory, which countered his current appearance. Len had bulging muscles instead of his usually skinny body.
Mr. Roth, whom she hadn’t seen since she’d caught Hargreaves escorting him through the magical fort, had managed to make the final ten. Two others, Eithan, who held a broom in his portrait, and a girl named Thursday, rounded out the filled portraits. Both had been around in team competitions and gatherings, but neither had stood out.
All of the local contestants survived. Not that it would stay that way much longer, as a shakeup was inevitable. The support she’d bribed with immunity idols, Sally and Milo, hadn’t made it here yet, and only one spot waited to be filled.
The hourglass representing Saccerates' life might be gone, but the time was still draining away; there were no wasting moments to hope for more backup. If Maxwell or Rose’s portrait were missing, it would have been a bigger problem than that of not enough hired help.“They're here. Time to clean up this mess.’
Hyacinth’s nose smelled nothing. That meant they’d entered through another entrance, and their scent had not yet traveled through the large building. Past the entryway, full of portraits, three rooms waited. To the left, a lovely library filled with books she wouldn’t have time to read, and if things didn’t go overwhelmingly well, would never get the chance to. To the right was a game room with a fully stocked bar in the back. Adric looked longingly at that one. It seemed the reward for being in the final ten was leisure and fun, while trapped in a house with people ready to backstab you for victory. All the drama that the audience watching this would love. Calm before a storm, with maybe a little forced proximity relationships.
Harmony let her read one of the titles as she passed the library, All the Dust that Falls - Cleaning Made Easy. No fun and leisure for her before getting straight to the stabbing. Hyacinth huffed that he finally caught a scent. The exact thing she needed to pull her mind away. The path straight ahead was a room with two sets of stairs leading up. The toad indicated the left stairs, so that is where they went. ‘Whose scent?’ Harmony asked through [Familiar Bond].
‘Mixed, unsure, weak.’
If it was mixed, maybe it was all of their targets. The predator’s lack of confidence wasn’t helping that idea.
The top floor opened up to a hall of consecutive doors, the kind you’d find in a hotel. Assumptions led one to think of individual rooms. Not enough space for the toad to grow to make another entrance. She shared that trick now. With her vital body, Harmony grew to gain the mass and leverage she needed, while she sacrificed condensed strength. Four doors down at Hyachinh’s signal. Harmony twisted to face a door and used [High Kick], putting her back into it. The door lock cracked and swung open.
Maxwell stood there, shocked by the intrusion. Half-naked except for a fresh set of pants. A new shirt lay on the bed ready to be put on. The ratty golden furs he’d been limited to wearing sat discarded in the corner. This wasn’t the man who’d entered the game or even how he was the last time she’d seen him. His skin was as white as his new beard; that spark of chaos that gave him any sense of life sat extinguished. He looked more like an undead than a living man, with a face contorted in outrage. If they’d burst in any sooner, he would have been caught naked, as it was; partially dressed and unarmed was a gift.
“How dare…” His voice had changed, lacking any feeling.
Harmony was already on the attack. [Renew Spirit] reached out while twisted to destroy, as [Disintegrate] folded into that spiritual energy that had already been attuned towards astral energy. This wasn’t a move to go after the unfathomable energy that could be influencing his personality; it was but an opening move needed to see what she was dealing with. That specialty shield, designed to block introspection and sight skills, was shredded under her spiritual attack.
That damage laid bare the soul of her singularly sworn. As his summon and with the initial capturing of Saccerate, it was easy to say she knew how he should look better than anyone. The astral shield retreated into a corner of his container after the damage it had taken. In the mess, she spotted the other new bond Adric had acquired, a quantum lattice designed for stability, without which he would surely be dead. The [Chaos Seed] sat dormant and cold; its roots, which had networked into skills, were withered and dry. The skill to summon her sat seeped in unfathomable energy, locked into some kind of simpler form by the seals made to even competition. Where the cage for spirit prison was a bleeding scar crusted over that part that Adric now hosted and needed to be returned. Max might have wanted to escape being a knight, but those were the only skills that managed to seem partially usable in the broken soul of her agent of chaos.
Her larger form easily tackled him onto the bed in a bearhug. With all the damage, he wasn’t even able to struggle much in her grip. “If I didn’t need Rose alive to fix this. I’d kill her on sight.”
The unfathomable energy in him flared in his head, and the skill it circled. “Don’t you dare talk about my…”
“Hush.” Harmony shushed him with [Final Silence] to ensure he didn’t add anything that would infuriate her further. “Adric, tie him. We’ve got an heir to hunt.”
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